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Demerye Paulin
Introduction My name is Demerye Paulin and I was born on November 20, 1990 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was during this time that my brother, Jamerye Paulin, was born five minutes before me; so yes, I do have a twin brother. Upon relocating from New Orleans to Norman, Oklahoma in August of 2005, I attended Norman High School beginning with my sophomore year. I graduated from Norman High in 2008 and soon attended Oklahoma City Community College that same year in the fall. Majoring in journalism, I graduated from Oklahoma City Community College in 2011 and enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in the fall majoring in journalism as well. In about a year after editing this account, I will graduate once again and see what happens after that. My family,as well as I am, are very proud of where we come from, and I am especially proud because without them, the history we share would have never existed. Immediate Family I have a twin brother, Jamerye Paulin who was born five minutes before me and we attend the same school currently. My mother is married to my stepfather, Anthony Houston; I have a step sister named Taylor and a stepbrother named Anthony. We have resided in Oklahoma City for the past few years, and for the most part, the state has been good to us since relocating from our hometown of New Orleans. Family History Donaldsonville, Louisiana is where a good portion of where family started for me generations ago (http://www.city-data.com/city/Donaldsonville-Louisiana.html). My mother, Sherri Paulin was born to Consuella Paulin and Clarence Paulin. My grandmother, Consuella Paulin, was born to Elray Clarence Jones Sr. and Hazel Williams. My uncle, Elray Clarence Jones Jr, is the only sibling of my grandmother Consuella Paulin. My great grandfather, Elray Clarence Jones Sr., was born to Augustus Jones, his father, and Angie Jones, his mother. Angie Jones' parents were Isabella Chapman and Willard Claiborne. Hazel Williams, the wife of my great grandfather Elray Jones Sr., her parents were Dave Williams and Anna Williams. My great grandfather, who aided me by relaying all of this information to me, says through his analysis of the family history, he doesn't recall creole being apart of the family history. Creole are individuals who are half white and half black. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, my great grandfather, Elray Clarence Jones Sr., provided the information about the ancestry of my family, the Paulin family. Born on October 20, 1922, he is the last remaining of five children: Myrtle, Percy, Hazel and Augustus. To be more direct in my family's history, my grandfather Elray C. Jones Sr.'s father, Augustus Jones, was a laborer, and any work he could find, such as cutting sugarcane in the country was done. His mother, Louvina Claiborne, was a cook in the home of white people; and according to him, any work during that time was hard to find. Louvina Claiborne had two brothers and two sisters: Willy and Melvin Claiborne and Elma Halrdy and Milly Beauger. Her brothers both worked on the riverfront as long shormans. His parents were both born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, a small town of about 7,000 people, according to a 2000 census. In Donaldsonville, there was a plantation owned by a white man that included sugarcane, rice, and potatoes in the field. My great grandfather grew up picking chickens, twisting their necks and feet, putting them in hot water and then picked the feathers off. As he became older, his brother taught him how to drive with a 1945 Ford that was a 2 door and a stick shift. He was drafted to go to World War II, but he never received a call to go to the war (he also informed the board that he had an enlarged heart). He worked at the United States Postal Service for 30 years as a truck driver at an airport, the main postal office and to a postal station. Culture and Beliefs When I analyzed my family history and discussed culture and beliefs, one of the topics that kept arising was race relations, food, and if you live in the south, you know a thing or two about bad weather. My great grandfather, Elray C. Jones Sr., was a truck driver helper who was making only 50 cent an hour. During his time of growing up, there was minimal interaction with white people in order to uphold the beliefs of minding your own business, doing your work, and then going home to be with your family. During those times in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, my family believed that an African American had no choice but to attempt to get along with white americans because in America, there was no other choice. So our family believed that having respect for others no matter what they looked like inside of a racist culture was the best way to live. My great grandfather said the food he grew up on was as big a part of our family culture as anything else. Fried and baked chicken, cabbage, gumbo, soup, potato salad, and red beans and rice were some of the foods that became a staple of family dinners. 2nd lines and Mardi Gras was another part of family culture and beliefs that my family embraced and became second nature over the course of time. My family also lived in a culture where hurricanes and massive flooding were a constant threat on our coast (http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/hurricane-katrina). Gender Roles Gender for my family were in line pretty much with the way African Americans raised their children in the South. My grandfather, Elray C. Jones Sr., says that for the men, by the time they became grown men, they had to get a job in order to support their wives and children. It was preferable to move out of the home of the mother and father, save money while working hard which would then put the man into position to buy a home. The man had to make sure his kids made it to school everyday safely and teach them the rules of right and wrong. The man also had to show his children, specifically the boy, how to stay out of trouble, develop an appreciation for what one possesses, and developing different techniques so a person does not have to depend on other people for the rest of their lives, such as driving for example. The women on the other hand had to work as well. They couldn't be a stay at home mom and care for the children because the man wasn't making enough money on his job to support the family all alone. In other words, the amount of money the man made was not on the same level as the amount of physical labor he put into his job on a daily basis, so the women had to get jobs and find other ways to care for the children until they returned from work. Race Race has always been played a role in not just my life, but the lives of my entire family. I used my grandfather to discuss this aspect the most because he is the oldest of the family, seen practically every phase of the race spectrum and so forth. First of all, being an African American is something that I fully embrace and accept . There is no part of my family that looks at race is something to ignore, but something to embrace and realize that whatever happens in our lifetime as a result of race, it should be discussed so that younger members of the family such as myself can be more aware of how society operates within itself. For people sic as my grandfather, there were a lot of places that he could not go being an African American living in New Orleans, Louisiana. When he and other members of my family during the 1950s and 1960s went to restaurants, they had to get their food from the back of the building. As for means of transportation, he had to ride in the back if the bus behind a sign that read "colored." There were water fountains for African Americans; plus, walking around town after dark was not something he or any other African American were encouraged to do. There was a lot of racism in the city of New Orleans that was directed to African Americans, from blacks having to sit in an upstairs section of a movie theater, to whites having the privilege of sitting downstairs. Walking on aside walk was also another aspect of Jim Crow that my family and other African Americans had to deal with. When white Americans, especially women who were white, black men especially had to either get off the sidewalk, or keep their heads down so as not to make eye contact with the women. My grandfather also admits that as hard as life was in New Orleans during his younger days, he remembers the state of Mississippi to be much harder to live in (http://www.insideec.com/?p=14824). Summary After completing this assignment, one of the first things that comes to mind is legacy. I want to leave a legacy behind as well for my family so they can have an easier life and discuss history that they are most proud of. It was interesting to hear how big of a factor race played in the concept of everyday life because when I thought about it, how a person looked, in this case us as African Americans, determined where they could eat, where they could live, where could they go, certain behaviors had to change to complement other people and clothes/education we received. One factor, race, played a role in all of that and my family perservered through all of that. History is a very important aspect of my life, and I hope that over time, I can learn more about my family and share it with others, no matter what the color of their skin is. Category:Students